Saturday’s Americade parade in Lake George was a colorful affair. Despite a slow start, the annual motorcycle rally finished on a strong note, organizers said.
Paul Post — The Saratogian

LAKE GEORGE >> To some people, motorcycles mean black leather and loud pipes.

However, there’s no end to the colorful artwork that adorns many bikes and their riders’ accoutrements and accessories.

Helmets especially come in all shapes and designs, from skull-and-crossbones to red, white and blue action hero motifs. Orange flames on a black backdrop are popular with quite a few men, while a female rider at Saturday’s Americade parade had a bright red metallic helmet with pigtails attached to the sides.

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“Like everything on a bike, it’s a personal thing,” said John Palino of Babylon, Long Island.

Americade 2014 rolled out of town on a high note as hundreds of bikers, admired by thousands of spectators, took part in the event’s annual closing day parade beneath picture-perfect early summer skies in Lake George.

“Somebody must have opened the faucet because attendance Friday and Saturday was absolutely nuts,” event Director Christian Dutcher said. “It was the largest Friday and Saturday crowds we have seen in years, especially at TourExpo. The four acres of free parking there was filled with bikes both days.”

He said it’s difficult to cite statistics because many riders come and go without registering. However, it’s estimated that 70,000 people took part in the week-long gathering, or at least a portion of it.

Lake George Mayor Robert Blais said some repeat visitors now arrive the weekend before, prior to Americade’s official opening, and leave by Wednesday before big crowds hit town. Several signs reflected a lighter-than-normal turnout early in the week. A Rotary Club raffle was down 25 percent, and sewage treatment plant flows were down 10 percent, an indication of less hotel occupancy, Blais said.

“This was the first time I saw vacancy signs in the village and on Bolton Road,” he said. “That was unusual. There certainly weren’t the (Tuesday to Thursday) crowds that were here as in the past.”

Blais said a number of bikers told him they were making shorter stays because they couldn’t afford the five-night minimums that some hotels asked for. Also, Blais said some hotels raise their prices $40 to $50 per night for Americade.

But Dutcher said overall attendance, buoyed by the extra-strong final two days, was up over last year.

“We marketed the event significantly more in certain markets this year, which contributed to the Friday and Saturday crowds,” he said.

Dutcher said officials of Mechanicville-based Alonzo Fireworks company told him that Friday night’s show was the largest they’d ever done in Lake George.

“National Public Radio aired a segment nationally on Americade this year,” Dutcher said. “I think this was a first for us.”

Americade paid tribute to this year’s 70th D-Day anniversary on Friday, and Saturday’s parade benefited the Building for America’s Bravest Foundation, which pays for new homes for seriously injured veterans. A traveling 9/11 exhibit was new at this year’s event.

Many veterans turn out for Americade, including Ron Churko, a U.S. Marine Corps Vietnam veteran, who came from Connecticut with his wife, Patty. The couple was riding a Kawasaki, the third type of bike they’ve had since first visiting Americade in 1996. Previously they’ve had a Honda Goldwing and Harley-Davidson.

They stayed three nights, from Thursday through Saturday.

“So there was just enough to do,” Patty Churko said.

Festivities were marred by one tragedy — a fatality on Route 9N on Friday, June 6, when a southbound 2007 Yamaha 1300 motorcycle driven by John A. Avellino, 55, of Clifton Park, crossed into the opposite lane and collided with a GMC Savana work van operated by Stephen Frank, 37, of Lake George on Friday, June 6. Avellino was pronounced dead at the scene. The accident occurred on the south side of Tongue Mountain in the town of Bolton.